"Pushing the Window"

[Matt_Wandell]

How do you chop? Or do you use a blender. Also, do you supplement with Vitality or equivalent?

No supplements on the food. Except what is fed to the Artemia nauplii and adults, which get Shellfish Diet and powdered Spirulina, respectively.

I chop with a butcher knife in a pinch. Those chop-chop things you see on TV can work well too. But the easiest way to get small particles is to freeze the food item then use a fine cheese grater on it like this one. You should be able to find one in person at like a Bed Bath and Beyond or restaurant supply store.
http://us.microplane.com/microplanehomeseriesfinegrater.aspx
Try it with a prawn, clam, or even a block of mysis. Just buy one for exclusive fish use if you want a happy spouse.

Once I get the fine particles grated I rinse them in a baby brine shrimp net, and feed out.

Blending will just result in a liquid mush that won't work.

 

[Big E]

The tank design itself, choosing proper tankmates, having backup life support, a backup generator, etc. are all just as important as what you feed them and such. Short of a natural disaster or sabotage, there really are very few excuses for a fish's premature death that are truly unavoidable.

Yep, if you can't follow the basic guidelines to keep an easy/hardy fish to a ripe old age you have no chance with anything difficult. Fish very seldom just die for unexplained reasons & most causes of death are directly related to the fault of the person keeping them. Fish jumping, poor moving deaths, & power outages are the reefkeepers fault for poor setups & planning.

Once a fish has made it through QT and is eating & adapted to captivity it should live at least 8-10 years. If you can't do that it's a failure.